Another Option For Large Pond Aeration Layouts

In the last week or so I’ve been going over some optional ways in which an aeration system can be installed in a large pond.

By now you probably know of all the benefits of having an aerator in your pond.  The devices do so much for a pond it’s almost unthinkable not to have one running most or all of the time.  Dissolved oxygen is critical to the health of fish and certain species like trout or catfish seem to be more vulnerable when things drop on the oxygen meter.  If last year was any lesson for most of us, it’s that you can’t be too careful when things get hot and stagnant.  And you can lose a lot of big fish when things go wrong.

Along with this, a stagnant pond seems to have a lot more chronic problems with algae and just overall decay.  They can get stinky and messy and just be an eyesore after awhile.  A pond aerator may not ward all of the aging off that happens to a pond but it sure can slow things down a lot.  If good aerobic bacteria is stimulated enough, it can truly keep a pond cleaner, and that’s a good thing were algae reduction is concerned.

One of the real challenges with a large pond aerator though is in terms of it’s cost.  It’s just not easy to cover a big piece of water adequately.  Fortunately though, we are always looking for ways to make this effort more affordable and one way to do that is to look for alternatives when it comes to layouts and airline options.

Let me explain this in more detail and I think you’ll see why this optional layout might be a good idea for some large pond owners.

Take a quick look at a sample aerial mapping we did awhile back.  Although it’s reduced down to fit on the blog here (and I apologize for that) you can see a bright green line running along the bottom length of the pond.  This represents the primary way we were able to reduce the cost of this installation by nearly $1,000.

Here’s how we did it.

In a normal aeration installation it’s quite common to run individual airline to each diffuser in the package.  This isn’t such a big deal if you have one or two, but in large water, you might use 4 to 6 diffusers just to cover it adequately.  In the image above you’ll see six diffusers (represented by circles) placed in the pond.  

So with the compressor placed near a power source, a 6-valve splitter is connected there and then routes via an separate airline, running through the water, out to each diffuser in the pond.  There is a convenience in this set up because you can control air flow throughout the pond from one location.  And normally there’s very little to limited trenching involved with any airline running over land.

But weighted airline comes with some cost, not only to purchase but for shipping too (although we ship all of our large pond systems at no charge).  

So one other option is to trench in a larger diameter mainline run along the edge of the pond, and then use individual valves along this line which connect to a single run of weighted airline and that runs out to the diffuser in the pond.  This is what’s represented in the aerial shot we showed you earlier.

The bright green line is a trenched in 1″ diameter irrigation line.  This normally will be rated up to 125 psi, and it doesn’t cost all that much.  Certainly it’s a lot cheaper than weighted airline.  The white line you see represents 3/8″ weighted airline and it’s coupled together with a simple ball valve assembly to the mainline.

Even though there are a few more components such as the valves, valve boxes, and fittings, the overall cost savings was decent.  In this particular case the individual had access to a trencher and found little problem in getting the mainline into the ground.  For many pond owners, this may not be practical or as simple to do, so the airline run through the pond itself may still be the most practical method of installation.  I would say that’s been the most common method we’ve worked with for most people.

Nevertheless it’s always good to have options, and the layout we’ve profiled here may suit some of you that read this and if that’s the case, I’m glad we could share this with you.

As always, if you have any questions about aeration and your pond, be sure to contact us through this website.